HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Consumerism is out of control. A lot of people have too much money and have to have the best and most expensive of everything. The shiny new car that gets polished til the paint disappears, the huge house (mortgaged up the eye balls). Keeping up with the Jones' is big around here. Having a young family i find the playground mums and dads to be the worst.

Never mind the effect on the world's resources, there is no restraint. People are paid too much, there is no restraint, people want everything now. Showing off is a pass time.

Maybe i am odd. I was brought up to save until i could afford something and to enjoy the simple things in life. A car is to get you from A to B and nothing more. As long as it is safe, reliable and fit for purpose then that is all that counts. Make do and mend - i still darn socks. I keep things until they are well and truly broken and ponder decisions of purchase, making sure i get the right thing in the first place - don't need to replace until completely un-fixable.

Hifi - i don't care what badge is on the front (no badge at all would be best) and i dont care what it looks like. As long as it sounds good to me and my family then that is all that matters.

Stu

"Maybe i am odd. I was brought up to save until i could afford something and to enjoy the simple things in life" Me too, sign of age ?

I get annoyed/frustrated that things like mobile 'phone contracts, wall covering TV's and "take aways" seem to have become a "right" and if a person can't afford them then the state is doing something wrong.

Other people's possessions don't bother me at all. I'm entirely debt-free now, but that's not how it's always been. I could never have bought a house without taking on a huge debt, for example.

How much money is 'too much money' anyway? Twice what you earn? Ten times? What about other assets? Our house is worth about six times what we bought it for, and has 'earned' about as much as I did working in the same period.

The attitude of the younger generations is exaggerated by the Social Media pressures which force a:
'look at me, look how happy I am, look at what I've got!'
image onto those who use it.

The fact that you HAVE to be happy is making life very difficult for those who are living more in a virtual than a physical reality.

It also has created an enormous division between those who use Facebook etc. and those who don't. Even in my own limited circle of acquaintances it is apparent that if you are not active on Facebook then you don't exist.

Anyone who hasn't read Dave Eggar's 'The Circle' should, as that gives an unpleasantly plausible vision of life controlled by the internet corporations and social media.



And the internet is rapidly becoming saturated with advertising - in one way or another commercial pressures ensure that you remain eternally dissatisfied with what you have and MUST constantly spend, spend, spend to make yourself the envy of all you virtual 'friends'.

God help us all.

Can only agree with the above comments but it does not only stem from advertising, look at many of the programmes on tv, they also propagate this. But lets not forget the millions still earning £7 per hour but that's for another thread.

Never underestimate the power of human greed...but which doesn't mean that we can't each choose to live differently

Much more that all that I feel, it's a way of life where much is done without questioning it because 'that's the way we live' but, like eating lots of processed food, it ain't good for us.
James Wallman calls it Stuffocation https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/ ... man-review
The Amazon advert let's you read a few pages
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Stuffo ... 0241971543

I agree with pretty much all of the above - but it leads me to the question:

What can be done to keep the masses happy instead?

Crap telly and the accumulation of debt (to get "things") is basically all that the majority of people have to live for in my opinion.

Maybe it is a sign of age but i am only just over 40.

How much money is too much ? A hard question to answer. Over £50k ?

Social media - most people i know participate and must have been born with a smartphone in their hand. It must have an effect on consumerism. I don't even have a smartphone, my friends usually make fun of my old dog and bone. Quite frankly i could not give a shit.

Are technological advances causing the cost of living to increase. But what is 'living' ? Surely it is having enough food to eat and a roof over your head. Not having to be able to afford the latest iphone, Range Rover, million inch television.

Stu

CycleCoach wrote: What can be done to keep the masses happy instead?

Soma?

karatestu wrote: How much money is too much ? A hard question to answer. Over £50k ?

It's not an absolute value, it is relative. Ask Mr. Micawber.